With her head resting against the edge of a small concrete pool that was filled with milk and lilacs within a small bathroom, Francine closed her eyes as she relaxed. As it turned out, one of the many perks of winning a fight turned out to be an indulgent milk bath, and she was free to relax in the warm water for however long she wanted. And she definitely needed to relax.
Having been born and exposed to a life of opulence, the bathroom wasn't up to the standards she was accustomed to. But even though it was a far cry from her personal bathroom in whatever country she happened to be in, the simplicity of the place allowed her to unwind and disengage from her current circumstances.
Sighing, she slipped into the water. She, like everyone else in the arena, couldn't believe she had just won the fight. True, she had an advantage due to her royal lineage, but she was at a minor disadvantage in terms of brute strength. The only thing that truly helped her was speed.
She was well aware that she would have to battle for her life once more in the arena, and for as long as she remained in the casa, but she was not going to be concerned about it at the moment. For now, she was relieved of the load and distress that had weighed her down, and there would be no need to feel the pressure, at least for the time being.
All she had to do was relax... and spending as much time in the bath as she possibly could tonight would seem to be the most effective way to do this.
As she continued to take pleasure in the small prize Gillen had given her for winning the fight and bringing another victory to his house, her thoughts turned to the growing distance between her and Alex. It wasn't lost on her that Alex and Harper were involved with each other, and there was no doubt it would be a stain on her reputation, and she didn't want to be remembered as some vampiress who had to take a back seat to some mere human. It was terrible enough that her mate had forgotten about her and their bond, but the fact that Alex was involved with a human would add an entirely new degree of disgrace to her.
After a while, Francine climbed out of the tub after a long period of time, emptying the tub and drying herself off while contemplating whether she would ever be able to return to her former life. After she betrayed Draven for Alex, would she have to spend the rest of her life running and hiding if they returned to their own world? Most importantly, would Alex ever be able to regain his memory? And would he be able to sense their connection again?
But if their plot worked and King Ascian and Queen Niran granted them the royal pardon, they would no longer have to flee from the royal council or Draven. Or Lord Aleister.
She put on the clothes Libby had given her, a modest light-brown robe with a sash. She exited the bathroom, still drying her hair with her towel, in the hopes of finding something to brush her hair with, but the first thing she saw was Gillen and Harper, who were standing on the balcony, waiting for her. All intentions of enjoying the night evaporated upon seeing them.
"How was your bath?" Gillen asked as he walked in front of her. "I suppose that wasn't as good as the bath you're used to back in your world, but..."
"It was enough," Francine remarked briefly, running her fingers through her wet hair. "I could use a brush or something to comb my hair, though."
"Harper, could you get Francine a comb?" Gillen asked, smirking, as Harper dashed out the door.
"Where is Libby?" Francine asked.
"Taking care of Alex and Lucas," Gillen responded. "You have proven everyone wrong tonight. They thought you wouldn't be able to stand up to Bartok for more than a minute. And I'm delighted to have you in my casa. You're a formidable fighter. I'm astounded."
Francine wanted to tell him that it wasn't her fighting expertise that helped her defeat the tall vampire, but rather luck and desperation to survive.
"I can't die."
"And I totally agree! Isn't it amazing how the fear of death can drive us to do everything we can to survive? To live. You've made good use of your fear. I am thoroughly impressed. That's why I'm giving you another reward."
Harper reappeared with a hairbrush in her hand before Francine could open her mouth to ask what the award was. She sat on the settee, the damp towel on her lap.
"Here," Harper said, standing in front of her and offering her the brush.
"Don't be impolite to your new champion, Harper," Gillen said firmly. "Come on, go ahead and comb her hair."
"What?" Francine raised her head to look at Gillen.
"As an additional perk, I'm giving you your own sitter." Gillen smiled proudly and nodded to Harper. "Harper will look after you and your needs. I want you to concentrate solely on training and staying in shape in order to ensure your next win."
Harper gently brushed Francine's hair with the hairbrush.
"Or what?"
"Otherwise, you will no longer be referred to as a champion. And let me be clear, I'm only generous to my champions. If you are no longer valuable to me as a fighter, you will either become one of my slaves or be sold again as a slave," Gillen informed her casually.
"Would I ever get my freedom back?"
"Freedom? I'm sorry to break it to you, my beloved champion, but you won't," he admitted, laughing. "Once you've been sold to serve or fight for a master, you'll have to forget that the word ever existed. In Velaris, freedom is not for everyone. But hey! Life without freedom isn't necessarily bad. As long as you keep winning for me and bring pride to my casa, you'll have a better life than the slaves, and you'll also gain some perks that aren't available to all."
If Francine had her way, she would have strangled and torn Gillen's heart out of his chest, but she knew better. They'd have to prepare for their escape, and a safety plan would have to be devised as soon as they were out of The Casa and on their way to Amaryn to find Gwinifer, the only mage who could take them to King Ascian and Queen Niran, and she was well aware that killing Gillen would just exacerbate the situation for them.
So she closed her mouth.
"Once again, congratulations on your first victory. I'm glad you loved your milk bath. Keep winning for me and there will be more of it in the future." Gillen grinned before turning to Harper and said, "Make sure she's ready for her bed, my dear."
Francine and Harper stood there watching as the casa's master exited the room.
"Did you ask Gillen to put you in as my sitter?" Francine asked as soon as they were alone.
As she stroked her hand over the soft strands of the vampire's hair, Harper mumbled, "It was either Rea or Lovely. When he was assigning you your own sitter, I talked to him and convinced him to give me the job instead."
"I know Gillen would never allow us to talk with one another, so how did you persuade him?" Francine asked, her brow furrowed.
"I told him I wanted to show him that he could trust me."
"Oh, so you're suddenly loyal to him now? You want to prove your fucking loyalty to him?"
"No, I'm not! You know that's not why I'm doing it," Harper scowled as she returned to brushing Francine's hair. She raised an eyebrow as she wrestled with a knot in the vampiress’ hair, pushing it a little more forcefully than she should have. "We can only plan our escape if we can talk to each other freely, and we can only do that if he trusts us."
"All things considered," Francine huffed, "I'm surprised you didn't ask him to be Alex's sitter instead."
"We can all plan and relay whatever we come up with through Libby because she is free to talk to any of us," Harper said, dismissing Francine's remark concerning Alex.
"I've heard that Gillen has a soft spot for humans, and as a sitter, I'm sure you can find a way to spend some extra time with Alex," Francine quipped instead.
"Francine, please…"
Francine sighed, sounding annoyed. Harper's fingers slid through her hair, loosening the small tangles in her hair. She thought that despite what Harper had done for her, she couldn't bring herself to fully like or trust her. Especially given what was going on between her and Alex.
Taking a deep breath, Harper took a step back and rubbed the back of her neck. "I simply want to talk to you about getting out of here. Anything we came up with, we could convey to Libby, who could then tell Alex and Lucas."
"Are you sure that's all you want to talk about?"
"Yes!"
Francine snorted in mockery. "You must be thinking that I owe you my life after you gave me your own blood," she snarled, clenching her teeth. "Just because I owe you something doesn't mean I'm over what you did."
"I know that, and I don’t really think that…that you owe me anything. No, I didn't give you my blood, so you could forget about－" she paused. "Look, I only did it because I didn’t want you to die that day," she added fairly strongly and loudly.
Francine rose to her feet, placing the brush on a nearby table. Because she was a few inches taller than Harper, she looked down at her. "Alex is my mate."
"Listen, I knew nothing about you, Lucas, or Alex being...not human. I had no idea about lycans, mage, or the existence of this other world. I had no idea I was Lucas' mate. I had no idea Alex was your mate－"
"Is that why you screwed him? Harper, you knew we were together!"
Harper bit her bottom lip and lowered her gaze, a twinge of guilt sinking into her stomach. Finally, she muttered, "I'm sorry," following a moment of strained silence. "Call me if you need anything." She then moved gently out of the room.
Francine shook her head. She stared at the open door Harper had exited through. She sat down on the settee again and leaned back, her gaze fixed on the dark sky above her. When she thought about Alex and Harper, she clenched her teeth in frustration.
After some time had passed, she went to her new room. It was a couple of feet wider and had a better bed than the previous one she had slept in. She plopped herself down on the bed and waited for sleep to come to her.